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PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, DECEMBER 18, 2020 Public Square Public Square weclomes all points of view. Published submissions do not necessarily refl ect the views of the Keizertimes. Submit a guest opinion, column or letter to the editor to publisher@keizertimes.com. Needed relief expected with special section This special session will give much With Legislative Committee Days scheduled for this week, Christmas needed relief to hurting Orego- right around the corner, and the 2021 nians. Proposed legislation includes legislative session starting in January, COVID-19 liability protections for schools, a critical fi rst step Gov. Kate Brown has de- to get schools reopened, cided to call for a special support for renters and session on December 21. landlords, as well as techni- What does this mean and cal changes in the restau- what will be addressed? rant industry that will help The governor has hard-working Oregonians called for the third special and small businesses. session this year, which It is my sincere hope means legislators must go that both parties can work vote on legislation that has been proposed by her from the together for the good of all of Oregon as we navigate and the presiding leader- capitol through this pandemic. ship. I wish you all a Merry A Special Session By BILL POST Christmas. And as always, Committee will be my offi ce is always open formed to discuss the leg- islation with public hearings and work for any assistance you might need. (Bill Post represents House District sessions. Upon passage, any legislation will go to both the House and Senate 25. He can be reached at 503-986- for a vote. The intent is to have any 1425 or via email at rep.billpost@ore- gonlegislature.gov.) proposed legislation passed in one day. Tis the season for optimism of sunshine into someone’s day. By LYNDON ZAITZ These thoughts are prevalent this I have always been an optimist and I am determined to remain op- time of year. Messages conveyed in timistic, especially as we head into a Christmas carols and holiday stories make us feel warm and sentimental. new year. I refuse to be part of the anger Peace on earth begins with each of that has permeated the country us—that’s a powerful tool to have at this year. Regardless of the cause of your disposal. This a time when we gather fam- people’s anger and frustration—po- litical, fi nancial, cultural—I will not ily and friends close to us. This hol- iday is a time to set aside take part and will rather be disagreements and em- part the calming and sooth- on brace those who mean ing that is sorely needed. the most to us. We can- What is the source of my my not allow opportunities optimsm? The source is my to show how we care for experience in and knowl- mind loved ones go by. I’d rath- edge of the world. I fi rmly er share stories and play believe that a person doesn’t wake in the morning wondering games than rehash political argu- how they can make another’s day ments from 2020. One of the greetings I offer horrible. We all have our daily lives to live which leaves little time to during this season is: “May the joy of the holidays be yours throughout mess with someone else. The saying that the best things in the new year.” It may sound like a life are free is true and I wish every- generic Christmas card message, but one would subscribe to that view. when you think about it, it’s not. It doesn’t cost a cent to be nice. It Just as world peace begins with each doesn’t cost a cent to offer a pleas- of us, the joy we experience during ant “Hello.” A smile goes a long the year begins with us, as well. It is way; it is wonderful to experience a matter of remembering. In a year how that little gesture can be calm- such as we’ve experienced, remem- ing and disarm someone is mad at bering what brought us joy and how the universe is treating them. happiness in the past is important. I am optimistic about the new A scowl is not the default expres- sion of people; everyone wants to be year because I choose to be. “Don’t happy and there no greater valida- just stand there, do something!” tion for us when we can bring a bit will be fi tting motto for 2021. Life is either something that happens to us or life is something we direct. I prefer to have some semblance of control. That includes how I react to people and situations. I will be polite and sincere and warm. I am optimistic that people will respond in kind. I will await the new year, revel- ing in the holidays: I will be (at my) home for Christmas; a walnut sauce will be cooking on the stove (rather than chestnuts roasting); I will hear what you hear (non-stop carols) and my halls will be decked. Tis the season of giving. I am more thrilled with what I can give rather than what I can receive. I have never returned a gift and I don’t make a list of what I ‘want.’ I am happy with whatever some- one takes the time to choose, wrap and present. I don’t think of what I might get as a present...it’s a gift and I cherish it. The new year will come soon enough. Life has changed. I can lament the change all I want but it won’t matter. Adaptation is the new normal. Some embrace progress, others don’t like change at all. I say, 2021, show us what you’ve got, I’m up for the challenge. Keizertimes Wheatland Publishing Corp. 142 Chemawa Road N Keizer, Oregon 97303 Phone: 503.390.1051 www.keizertimes.com MANAGING EDITOR Eric A. Howald editor@keizertimes.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Matt Rawlings news@keizertimes.com COMMUNITY REPORTER Lauren Murphy reporter@keizertimes.com ADVERTISING EDITOR & PUBLISHER Lyndon Zaitz publisher@keizertimes.com 2019-2021 President Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER Andrew Jackson graphics@keizertimes.com LEGAL NOTICES legals@keizertimes.com SUBSCRIPTIONS One year: $35 in Marion County, $43 outside Marion County, $55 outside Oregon PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY Publication No: USPS 679-430 POSTMASTER Send address changes to: Keizertimes Circulation 142 Chemawa Road N. Keizer, OR 97303 Periodical postage paid at Salem, Oregon (Lyndon Zaitz is publisher of the Keizertimes.) facebook.com/keizertimes Has America’s Suez moment come? cizing and isolating Iran and going By PATRICK J. BUCHANAN Two thousand-twenty will sure- to war if she should seek to build ly qualify as an “annus horribilis” in nuclear weapons like those held by her neighbors Israel, Pakistan, India, the history of the Republic. By New Year’s, one in every Russia and China. Why is this our duty? 1,000 Americans, 330,000, will be We are strategically “pivoting” to dead from the worst pandemic in Asia to contain a China 100 years. The U.S. that is the rising pow- economy will have er of the new century sustained a blow to and whose economy and rival the worst year of other armed forces rival our the Great Depression. voicesl own, while its population And by the end of is four times larger. December, much of If South Korea is at- the nation will be back tacked by the North, or in lockdown, with Joe Biden repeatedly predicting a “dark Japan or the Philippines fi nd them- selves fi ghting China over rocks in winter” ahead. Only at the apex of World War II the South and East China seas, we has the U.S. defi cit and debt been so are obligated to treat any Chinese attack as an attack upon us. large a share of our economy. Three decades ago, historian Paul In the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, the summer Kennedy used the term “imperial of 2020 produced riots the extent overstretch” to describe what hap- of which rivaled the week after the pens to great powers when their murder of Martin Luther King in global commitments become too extensive to sustain. 1968. This happened to the British at Also revealed by the BLM upris- ing of 2020 was an unknown depth the end of World War II when, bled, of hatred many U.S. citizens have broken and bankrupted by the six- for their country’s history, as they year war with Germany, she began pulled down and smashed statues to shed her colonies. In the fall of of men once revered as the great- 1956, Prime Minister Anthony est leaders —Washington, Jefferson, Eden, Churchill’s foreign secretary, Jackson, Lee, Grant, Theodore Roo- was ordered by President Eisen- hower to get his troops out of Suez sevelt, Woodrow Wilson. By year’s end, tens of millions under an American threat to sink were denying the legitimacy of the the British pound. The British Empire was fi nished. designated president-elect, who was The imperial overstretch of the to take offi ce on Jan. 20. Both par- ties were charging the other with Soviet Empire was exposed from 1989 to 1991, with the withdraw- trying to “steal” the presidency. Can a nation so distracted, so di- al of its forces from Afghanistan, vided, so at war with itself continue the fall of the Berlin Wall and the to meet all of the duties, obligations collapse of the Iron Curtain. The and commitments that are ours as captive nations of Eastern Europe the self-proclaimed “leader of the broke free. The USSR then disinte- free world”? Are we still the people grated along ethnic and tribal lines into 15 nations. and country we used to be? Its diversity tore the Soviet While we tear ourselves apart, we remain obligated to defend Union apart. On Dec. 2, at Brookings Institu- nearly 30 nations of Europe from Russia. We are committed to ostra- tion, joint chiefs chair Gen. Mark advertising@keizertimes.com Milley said: “There’s a considerable amount that the United States ex- pends on overseas deployments, on overseas bases and locations, etc. Is every one of those absolutely, pos- itively necessary for the defense of the United States?” The Defense Department, Milley added, must “take a hard look at what we do, where we do it.” In a separate talk at the United States Naval Institute, the chairman added that U.S. permanent bas- ing arrangements are “derivative of where World War II ended.” Indeed, NATO was formed and its war guarantees were issued to Western Europe in 1949, seven de- cades ago. War guarantees to South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Australia were all issued from 1950 to 1960. These commitments to go to war for other nations were issued when Stalin was in the Kremlin, a 400,000-man Red Army sat on the Elbe in Germany, and Mao and his madness had just come to power in Peking. How long must we sustain all these alliances and soldier on in the “forever wars” of the Middle East? Do we Americans still have the na- tional unity, sense of purpose, and disposition to sacrifi ce for the cause of Western civilization we had in the early days of the Cold War? Or has our own Suez moment arrived? President Trump did not extri- cate us from the “forever wars,” but he did draw down our troop lev- els in Afghanistan and Iraq. And he did raise the question of how many more decades must we defend a rich Europe from a declining Russia that has a fourth of its population and a tenth of its wealth. (Creators Syndicate) twitter.com/keizertimes maze Maze by Jonathan Graf of Keizer sudoku Enter digits from 1-9 into the blank spac- es. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.
